Artist: Sleetgrout
Album: We Had a Carnival
Label: Shadowplay Records
Review by: Outsider (aka Adrian Onsen)

Releasing an album earlier in 2012 Sleetgrout totally caught me by surprise. Here is another industrial band out of Russia.
I had only heard the title track “Get rid of this life” on the Communion After Dark podcast, and it caught my attention. I wanted to hear more.

The album is packed full of gritty, agro, EBM tracks, exceptionally blended with catchy synth melodies. I really like that sort of thing. And there is a range of tempos on this album to please most. There are the dance floor harsh EBM tracks, and a few mellower and very dark almost-ambient soundscape-ish tracks.

One of my gripes with this album is that the tracks are too short. Especially the tracks I like the most (which there are quite a few). Weighing in at anywhere between just over 3 minutes to just over 4 minutes for most tracks, it’s a shame as I would have loved to enjoy the nuances that every song brings just a little longer. Maybe a remix album can fix this (hint hint, nudge nudge). I’m not asking for epic-trance 12 minute songs, but something that builds more on the excellent melodic character of the tracks would be appreciated by me.

Don’t get me wrong. The fuss I have with the album is certainly no deal breakers  by any means. The album is strong and consistent in it’s delivery. As mentioned before, the thing I love about the album is the healthy seasoning of  harshness and melodies mixed together with pounding and heavy EBM beats. And then there are the melodic and catchy synth leads on most tracks, in true EBM spirit. Some of the tracks still give me shivers listening to them.

This album comes highly recommended by the staff at Mechanical Nation. Easily one of my personal favorite albums in a while.

Buy or preview the album We Had a Carnival by Sleetgrout from their bandcamp page.